Wanted

By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)

Episode 24 - Sandstorm

May 31st, 20XX, 6:25 PM

Gauntlet leapt to his feet, dashing outside of the tiny enclosure to view the massive, bank-sized chopper lifting off in the distance.

“Son of a…!”

He realized at that moment that he had given the hidden Victory the perfect opportunity to run to the chopper while he looked after his fallen friends, as Snakeman and Gemini had more than their hands full with Requiem Mass, who was still hunting them in the distance.

With little more hesitation, Shadowman slipped into the darkness at his feet once again, appearing beneath the copter’s own shadow.

Once he did, however, a very slight “beep” cued him in on something. A precautionary measure.

His eyes widened.

The bomb exploded almost as soon as he had arrived, sensing his motion. It wasn’t very big, probably due to the fact that Victory wouldn’t want to destroy his only escape method. Still it managed to literally blow Shadowman away before he could evade it.

It did its job.

Shadowman lay on the ground for a moment, trying to get his bearings, get that blasted ringing out his ears, and that stubborn light out of his corneas. Through the haze in his mechanical eardrums, he could hear a familiar voice calling to him.

“Sh-…dow!...-d me?!...-ome in, G!”

Shadowman lay face up, watching the chopper take off, his body almost refusing to get up due to the sudden trauma of being blown up.

“Shadowman! What happened?!”

“A trap.” He answered Snakeman’s voice. “I got hit by a bomb.”

“G, the chopper!”, Raijin insisted upon. He knew his friend was hurt, but he also knew the severity of the situation. “They’re getting away!”

“I…”

“I’m taking a shot!”

Before he could answer, Gauntlet watched a few, tiny sparks fly from the side of the fleeing chopper, a few seconds in between. Finally, after watching on helplessly in his hobbled state, Shadowman watched a few flames spew from the top of the chopper, its main engine catching fire from the gunshots.

“G, they’re coming down! Go and- glurgh!”

Shadowman scrambled for a second, getting back onto his feet, fighting the pain.

“Snake! What happened?! Raijin!”

In the wreckage, Snakeman watched the glowing blade protrude from his chest, right next to his main battery. His heart. His vision grew static and dark, blood oozing from his mouth as he dropped his rifle involuntarily.

Behind him, a staggering Death clutched the hilt of his knife, pushing it as far as it would go, wrenching it upwards, angrily.

“Fucking robot.”

Snake was losing himself, his body feeling numb, and very distant from his mind. Somewhere in his scattered thoughts, he found himself going over Gauntlet’s fear of the magnetic field when he was watching on, before they realized he had rejoined them.

Death…had him.

He dropped down to his knees, not really fighting it. Death still maintained his blade’s position in his chest, blood still seeping from his helmet, with his skull beneath cracked after he had removed the bullet that his armor had barely managed to stop.

Raijin’s mouth was dry.

With a last rush of energy from his leaking energy core, Snakeman had a final surprise for the stubborn silver soldier.

A knife through his face.

Finally, Death released his own knife, still lodged in Raijin’s torso. The combat knife Raijin had used earlier in the day proved itself useful once again, piercing Death’s face from his nose to the back of his skull, severing his spinal cord, and finally ending him. His body fell to the ground one last time with little fanfare.

Raijin’s breathing was ragged now, and he was suddenly very aware of just how tired he was.

Slowly, he let his body lay against the ground, shoulder first. He strangely didn’t mind the plasma knife still stuck in him- it was so far away now.

In the distance, he could see Geminiman, still fighting Requiem Mass, having split into a multitude of clones.

“I’ll…help you…in a few…”

May 31st, 20XX, 6:27 PM

His communication with Raijin unsuccessful, Gauntlet quickly switched channels to the one person he believed to be still active.

“Lennon! Raijin’s down!”

All he got was static for a few seconds. “I’m all alone, then.”

“Lennon, the chopper’s going down! I’ve got to go after it!”

“I understand, Shadowman. Leave this to me.

…Oh, and Gauntlet?”

“Hm?”

“…Good luck.”

Before Gauntlet could return the sentiment, he was overtaken by the chopper’s sight.

Oh no, he thought, it’s going right into the crater.

Sure enough, despite the pilot’s best efforts, the massive chopper was headed right towards the heart of the devastation itself, disappearing into the thick, violent clouds that filled the hole, only the fire from the engine giving any indication as to its whereabouts, and only for a few more seconds at that.

Gauntlet took a deep breath before launching himself into the crater to follow.

May 31st, 20XX, 6:28 PM

Requiem Mass hadn’t lost a step in the battle, batting away a few of the clones from his body as they worked away at his armor unsuccessfully as the real Geminiman commanded them.

“No, NO! The WEAK points, you fools!”

Requiem smashed another one flat with his palm, mashing it into the ground so far that only bits of its armor were visible in the large handprint just before it vanished.

“This is…not going very well…”

But something in his mind wouldn’t allow him to give up. Something different than the feelings of superiority he had felt throughout the day. Something different than the overwhelming desire to prove himself the better man over Gauntlet.

No…This was the desire to not let Shadowman down.

It was an old feeling. He hadn’t felt it in months. It felt…familiar, good.

But warm feelings aside, he was still helpless against the two story-tall Requiem.

Again, he decided to lure the monster back into the open plain. After all, he didn’t know where Snakeman was, and he didn’t want Requiem to find him and crush him. That, and he wasn’t having any better luck with this environment than the last.

Back in the open, Mass continued to decimate the clones, smashing them against the ground, each other, and even his own armor. With each crushing of his clones, Geminiman could nearly feel their “deaths”, his mental link with them still very strong.

Out of seemingly nowhere, one of the clones was tossed at him, catching him off guard and knocking him away. Before he knew it, Requiem was standing above him, his foot hovering over the downed Twin Terror for just a moment, until it descended.

Then, there was a blinding flash. The monster foot stumbled backwards, mashing the ground just next to Lennon before Requiem staggered back.

Confused, Lennon rolled over to his side. With his good eye, his blurry vision depicted a very welcome sight.

“C-Classi…!”

The napalm-scorched SparkChan stood there, her hand outstretched towards the giant Mass still.

Electricity was still pulsing over him as Requiem managed to regain his bearings and glare at the offending Robot Master.

Classi looked somber as she resumed pelting the giant robot with her Spark Shock, its effects seeping into the armor, jolting his very muscles and skeleton.

Finally, she looked upon Lennon, who hopped onto his one good leg to welcome the peace-loving robot back to the land of the living.

Behind him, the monster stirred, dazed, but far from defeated. Requiem roared with rage, but two heroes stood before him, defiant. Unmoving.

May 31st, 20XX, 6:35 PM

It was dark.

The dust was so thick, the sun above was blotted out, and the only light to be had came from the very wreckage the group had escaped from.

Victory, completely thrown into a fit, raged on, tossing his helmet to the ground, ignoring the thick sandstorm around him hastily.

“God DAMN it!” he screamed as loud as he could. “God damn THEM!”

Before him, Alicia lay on the ground next to her father, still drugged and sitting on his knees, holding his hand to his mouth and attempting to shield his daughter from the effects of the dusty maelstrom with his other. Around the family, the five remaining gray-suited troopers surrounded them, awaiting Victory’s next commands. None of them were especially comfortable in the spooky, cave-like environment.

“Shoot them.”, the leader commanded.

“Sir?”, one of the soldiers questioned.

“God damn you, I said SHOOT…THEM!”

“Sir…It’s a child and-“

Victory produced a handgun of his own and shot the inquiring soldier square between the eyes, despite the low visibility.

“Soldiers these days…When a commanding officer tells you to do something, you DO IT. NEVER question him!”

Hesitant, the other soldiers took aim upon the defenseless family before them.

Aware of the situation, Dr Enstehung spoke to his daughter.

“Are you alright with this?”

“…Yes…I am…”